St. Landry democrat., 1887-02-05
HAULING IN THT NET.
a Memorable Day at the Brook
lynn Tabernacle.
Over Three Hundred New Members n g
ceived by Rev. DIR. T. De witt Tall
mage-An Impressive Sermon by
the Eminent Divine.

for his text the eighth verse of the six
tieth chapter of Isaiah: "Who are these
that fly as cloud, and as the doves tt
their windoWsl' He said:
When God would set fast beautiful
thought, he plants it in a tree; when He
would put it afoat, He fashions it into a
,Tsh; when He would have it glide through
the air, He molds it into bird. There Is
to nh ny of US complete fascination in
the str. 'cture and habits of birds-the
blackbjrd. floating like a flake of darkness
THROUGH the ,~lnlight' the meadow lark,
with head of fan'n and throat of velvet,
and breast of god; the red tianingo,
flying over the Sou. hern sWamps, like
sparks from the forge OF the setting sun;
the pelican, white and black, morning and
night, tangled in its Wings-th>y seem not
more Of earth than Heaven, ever Vaclilat-
ing between the two.
No wonder that Audubon, with his sun,
tramped through all the American forests
IN search Of new specimens Biologists
have spent years in finding the track
of a birds claws in the new red sandstone
There is en0ughlsf Gods architecture in a
. Snipe's bill or gr0use's foot to confound all
the universities. Musicians have, with
clefs and bars, tried to catch the sound Of
the nightingale and the robin. Among the
first things that Il child notices is swal-
low at the caves, and grandfather goes out
with handful of crumbs to feed the snow
birds. The Bible is full of pathological
illusions
The birds Of the Bible are not dead and
stuffed, like those of the museum, but liv-
ing birds, vita 1iuttering wings and plum
age. "BehoId the fowls of the air,''
says Christ. Though thou exalt thyself
as the eagle, a: though thou set thy nest
among the stars, thence will bring thee
down." eXclaims Obadiah. ''Gavest thou
the goodly wings to the peacock?" says
Job. David describes his desolation by
saying: II am like pelican of the wilder
ness; l am like an owl of the desert;
watch, and am as q sparrow On the house
top" ''Yea, the stor1 in the heaven
knoweth her appointed time; and tho
turtle and the crane and the swallow
observe the time of their coming; but
my people know not the Judgment of the
Lord" says Jeremiah. And in the text
Isaiah looks ahead and sees the gathering
ofmany people unto Christ and the Church,
and it makes him think of a flock of pigeons
alighting on their coop, and all at once try
ing to get in at The window of the coop, and
he cries out: "Who are those that fly as
cloud and as the doves to their WIN
dowsl'
This is one Of the memorable days of the
Brooklyn Tabernacle. On other SUNDAYS
we drop the net; to-day we haul it in On
other days we send out the invitations for
Kings party; to-day we Sit at the
banquet. On other days we fight the bat |
tie; now we claim victory through our
Lord Jesus Christ. We who have toiled |
and contributed and prayed for the success
of this institution take unto your souls the
grand satisfaction of this hour. To you, o, |
men and women is fulfilled the promise:
Those who sow in tears shall reap in JOY" |
Wake up, o, Church of God and bring |
garlands and music and let US celebrate our |
'harvest home.n
Oh, this mercy Of Godl am told it is an |
ocean. Then place on it four swift-sail- |
ing crafts, with compass and charts and |
choice rigging and sl1llful navigators, and !
tell them to launch away and discover for
me the extent of his ocean. That craft
puts out in one direction, and sails to the
north; this to the east; this to the south;
this to the Wost. They crowd on all their
canvas and sail ten thousand years, and one
day came up the harbor Of Heaven, and a
shout to them from the beach: Have YOU
found the shore?" And they answer: mo
shore to Gods mercy!" Swift angels, dis
patched from the throne, attempt to go
across it; for one million years they fly and
fly, but then come back and fold their
wings at the foot of the the throne and
cry: mo shore! no shore to Gods mercy!n
Mercy! Mercy! I sing it; preach it; 7
pray it. Here I find man bound hand
and foot to the devil, but with one stroke
Of the hammer of Gods truth the chains
fall off and he is free forever. Mercy!
Mercy Mercy There is no depth it can
not fathoIa; there is no height it can not
scale; there is no infinity it can not COM
pass.
When persons apply for membership in.
to any society, the question is asked:
"Who are they, and where do they come
from!" and as this multitude of people pre-
sent themselves to day for membership it |
IS right that we should ask: s'Who are
these that come as doves to their win
dows2" They are captives, whose chains
have been broken; they are soldiers, who
have enlisted for thirty years. war; they
are heirs of Heaven.
They come as doves to the windows,
first because they fly low. The eagle darts
up, as if to strike it's beak into the sun. ,
There are birds that seem to dwell under {
the caves of heaven; you see them as lit
tie specks against the sky, so far off that .
you can not guess the style of their plumage
or the shape of their bodies; they float so I
far away that if the hunters gun be dis |
charged at them they do not change their
course. Not SO with the doves or pigeons, ,
they never take any high excursions. They {
fly around your roof and alight on the I
fence, and seem to dislike great attitudes. /
So these souls who come to Christ and to 1
His church to-day fly low. They ask no
great things; they seek an humble place at ]
The feet of Christ; they are not ashamed ,
10 be called beggars for mercy; they are 6
willing to get down on their knees, and to q
crawl under the table, and to pick up the Q
crumbs of the Gospel provision. There t
we're days when they were proud and i.
,unctilious and memorable and pulled up; t
but not now. The highest throne on earth b
,ould not tempt Mary away from jesus g
80 C+ocr n Yoydarod soul %bo,, | =